Pulse

By GCN Staff

NYC launches hyper-local websites

New York City has more than 8 million residents, but many know very little about the neighborhoods in which they live.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is trying to change that with the launching of Neighborhood.nyc websites, which contain hyper-local information community groups and individuals can use to develop online hubs for civic engagement, online organizing and information sharing.

Residents can find restaurant grades, public events, school closures, transit information and report issues such as leaking fire hydrants or broken traffic lights. The sites will also give weather updates, and information on parking rules, tenant protections and garbage and recycling pickups. The sites will be available in 13 languages, mobile friendly and allow users to give feedback.

The 400 neighborhood sites, which will have names such crownheights.nyc, will officially launch early next year, and the domains are available for licensing by qualified community groups. Until then visitors can find the same information by going to Neighborhoods.nyc and typing a neighborhood name in the search bar.

The websites were created through a public-private partnership between the Mayor's Office and Vizalytics, a local technology startup and 2014 BigApps winner.